The present invention relates to emergency rescue devices, and more specifically, to a rescue device adapted for use from airborne or aerial devices.
A variety of emergency situations exist which cause the need for aerial rescues. Severe weather, rains, and general storm conditions often cause floods, leaving victims of the circumstances stranded in water. Such floods typically come somewhat unexpectedly, often trapping persons in their vehicles. Such vehicles generally become immobilized, forcing the occupants to flee to the highest point to escape the floodwaters, typically the roof of the vehicle. Thus emergency rescues are often attempted to retrieve one or more victims from the roof of a partially submerged vehicle. Similar situations precipitate the need for rescues from the roof of buildings, also surrounded by water. In addition to floods, other circumstances such as fires, earthquakes, landslides or other natural disasters often result in victims being stranded in a remote or isolated location, where a rescue by air is the only feasible means of rescue. For example, a fire in a high rise building often leads to a number of victims fleeing to the roof of the building, where an aerial rescue, such as by a helicopter or crane, could then be attempted.
In the past, rescues by helicopter were typically performed by lowering down a single line with a harness or basket on the end. A rescuer would typically accompany the rescue device down, and after disengaging himself or herself from the rescue device, would secure or engage a single victim to the device. The rescuer, along with any additional victims, were then forced to wait in the dangerous conditions  while the rescue device holding the single victim was raised up into the helicopter, the victim was detached or disengaged from the rescue device, and the rescue device was lowered back down. The rescuer could then attempt to engage another victim with the rescue device, which would restart the raising and lowering procedure. However, such emergency circumstances often create a large number of victims, making it impractical to attempt to rescue victims one at a time. In such situations, where rapid rescue is critical to survival, multiple victims must be rescued together.
In addition to the slowness of such a rescue attempting to extricate one victim at a time, such single victim rescue devices are typically deployed with a single line, making the device especially susceptible to spinning. Such spinning can be dangerous, may cause victims to disengage from the rescue device, may affect the operation of the rescue device, and may also create fear and anxiety in the victim.
Thus there exists the need for a rescue device that may be deployed from an airborne or aerial location, such as a helicopter or crane, that allows for the rapid rescue of multiple victims, and that provides a safe area for the victims.